


Consider This a Sign

by afrocurl



Category: Friday Night Lights
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-03-31
Updated: 2008-03-31
Packaged: 2018-02-13 11:55:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,424
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2149830
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/afrocurl/pseuds/afrocurl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There's time to think, and it can bring about unexpected events.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Consider This a Sign

**Author's Note:**

> Written for [](http://requitedhope.livejournal.com/profile)[**requitedhope**](http://requitedhope.livejournal.com/) for the 2007 [](http://fnl-santa.livejournal.com/profile)[**fnl_santa**](http://fnl-santa.livejournal.com/). Thanks to [](http://starxd-sparrow.livejournal.com/profile)[](http://starxd-sparrow.livejournal.com/)**starxd_sparrow** for the beta. At this point, all errors are mine. I want to say how sorry I'm at this is so late--I had some serious issues coming up with something to fit the request, and I hope this works.

The sounds of his eldest daughter’s voice echoed off the bedroom walls for what seems like ages as the covers continued to block out the late morning sun.

He hated the pounding that mixed with the shrill tone of Julie’s voice, especially when it was added to the nauseous feeling in his stomach. There wasn’t much that would help alleviate any of the pain from last night’s altercation—no amount of ice in the house would help his ego—but it did allow him time to think about anything else than Tami's former love life.

The fact that he’d given into the taunting over dinner didn’t shock him—he’d always been protective of Tami and their relationship—but he never thought that seeing her old beau would do that to him.

While he waited for the throbbing to cease, thoughts of what Saracen had said the other week came back to him. If he was capable of getting that angry over someone that had lost Tami’s affection twenty years ago, were Matt’s thoughts on everything that had happen this season really that far off base? _Had he really left the team for a better job? Was the Swede a better guy than Matt?_

With nothing else to do until the girls returned from church, Eric tried to answer those questions, all the while wishing Advil would cure his hangover.

-*-

Finally out of the confined space of his bedroom, Eric sat on the couch, watching the pre-game show for whatever NFL game was about to air CBS that afternoon.

“Hey, Jules,” he called when he heard the front door close.

“What, Dad?” she asked as she walked towards her room.

“Can I ask you a question?”

“You just did."

“I meant, another one, sweetie.”

“Right, Dad,” she said, trying to put as much sarcasm into her voice as she could.

“Don’t get flip with me, young lady,” he retorted.

“Whatever,” she said with a sigh.

“Have you seen Matt lately?” he finally spit out.

“At the game this week, yeah, Dad.”

“I meant aside from a game, Jules.”

She stuttered, before answering. “Not in a few weeks.”

“Thanks, sweetie.”

“That’s it?”

“Yeah, that’s it. Just wanted to know something.”

She looked at him strangely before leaving for her room.

As the game began, Eric’s mind was preoccupied with the way Matt’s mind wrapped around everything rather than the skill of quarterback.

-*-

By the time he was ready for bed, Tami sat quietly on the bed reading a book.

“Hon, has Jules mentioned any boys to your recently?”

“No, she hasn’t. But remember, she’s not talking to me much since I missed her driving test.”

“Oh, right. I’m just trying to figure out something Saracen said to me last week.”

“Which was...?” she trailed off.

“Everyone leaving him. Julie, his dad, some woman named Carlotta, and myself were mentioned specifically.”

“I haven’t heard anything from her.”

“All right.”

He felt the look Tami was giving him after he’d asked. “Don’t give me that look.”

“What look?”

“The one that says, ‘I think Eric’s lost his mind again.’”

“Why would I give you that look, honey?”

“Because you think I shouldn’t be concerning myself with a sixteen-year-old boy.”

“I would never tell you that,” she chided. “I know you care about all the players on the team.”

“Thank you, dear. Now can you think of any way to get Matt and Jules in the same room again?”

“I think I can,” she said, turning off the light in the room and effectively ending the conversation before Eric knew what she was thinking.

-*-

“Tyra, can I talk to you over here?” Tami yelled after practice, watching as the girls ran out of the gym towards the locker room.

“Sure,” Tyra responded, not sure what in the world she’d done wrong during practice.

“Coach Taylor is taking me out to dinner tomorrow to make up for the stunt he pulled last week, and I know Jules won’t want to babysit Gracie Belle. Can you two go out for the night?”

“Sure, we can,” Tyra said, already trying to work her friend into her plans with Landry.

“Great! Thanks so much. Good practice, too!” Tyra walked into the locker room before Tami left the gym.

Part of Tami’s mind hoped this plan was going to work.

-*-

“So your mom asked me to take you out to a movie tomorrow night.”

“Really?” Julie asked, playing with her hair with her free hand.

“Yeah, but there’s this one problem...” Tyra trailed off.

“You have a date with Landry already?” Julie asked before the awkwardness of the moment grew too much.

“Sort of. I can get him to bring someone else along. You know, no third wheel and all that.”

“Whatever. I can’t go to Lois’s anyway, so it’s not like I have many other options.”

“I promise it won’t be awkward. We’re just going to catch that new Denzel movie.”

“Sure. Just be sure to pick me up when everything is going to happen. I don’t want to be around Gracie any more than I need to.”

“Of course, Jules. See you at school tomorrow,” Tyra said as she ended the call.

Landry better not find someone truly awful, she thought, before she dialed his number.

-*-

“I need to what?” he asked incredulously. The phone conversation had gone not at all like he’d hoped.

“Find. Someone. To. Come. To. The. Movies. With. Us. And. Julie.” She punctuated each work, hoping he’d understand.

“I get that, but why?”

“Because Mrs. Taylor said so.”

“Which means that I have to do this or Coach will be mad at me again if I don’t, right?.”

“Right,” Tyra replied brightly.

“You know that means Matt, don’t you?”

She heaved a loud sigh against the receiver. “Yeah, I know. Just make sure that he doesn’t piss her off too much, okay?”

“Fine, but I don’t control Matt’s emotions anymore than I did when he wanted to date Julie last year. Just be warned.”

“Whatever, just make it happen,” she quipped back.

“All right. I’ll call you later,” he said before ending the call on his cell phone.

-*-

“You’re coming to a movie with me, Tyra, and Julie tomorrow,” he stated as he watched Matt clean up the living room.

“No, I’m not. I don’t want to have to be around Julie if I can help it,” Matt replied, carefully keeping his gaze lowered to his task.

“Yes you are, man. Mrs. Taylor told Tyra who told me, and now I’m telling you.”

“Whatever man. If I have to, I will. Like I said the other day, I’m not over being dumped.” He turned away from the living room and walked into the kitchen.

“No clue what you’re talking about, Matt, but just be ready at six tomorrow.”

“Sure, Landry. Thanks,” he called over the sound of running water.

"Okay, man. I’ll see you in Spanish tomorrow.”

The screen door closed loudly before Matt realized that Landry had left the house entirely.

-*-

The silence in Landry’s SUV drove him crazy. Tyra just kept looking out the front window as they pulled into the Taylor's subdivision, and Matt avoided eye contract in the back.

By the time the car idled in the driveway, all Landry wanted to do was leave Matt and Julie to themselves so he could be on his date with Tyra.

His reverie was interrupted when Tyra got out of the car to knock on the door.

“Keep your cool tonight, Matt. I don’t need Tyra hating me again.”

“I won’t ruin your date, man. Just leave me alone.”

“If you say so,” Landry said quickly before Tyra hopped back into the front seat. “Hey, Julie,” he said next when he heard the other door close.

“Hi Landry, Matt,” she said quietly while buckling her seatbelt.

The rest of the ride passed in uncomfortable silence.  
-*-

Matt’s door opened as soon as Landry shifted into park in the parking lot. He led the way to the box office to buy his ticket and then waited for everyone else to join him.

Julie and Tyra walked together with Landry following closely behind.

“Could you wait up for me, Tyra? You know my knee still hurts.”

“Sorry, I was just checking that Jules was okay. I’ll wait right here for you,” she said over her shoulder, nudging Julie towards to the front of the theatre.

“I hate you both,” Julie muttered under her breath as she met Matt.

By the time she reached him, she noticed just how much uncomfortable he looked. “How’s it going tonight?” she asked.

His only response was a quick shrug before he moved his hand to suggest that she should buy her ticket.

“So that’s how it’s going to be tonight?” she asked while she waited in line.

“What’d you think, Julie? You dumped me for some stupid Swedish guy with greasy hair,” he retorted.

“I didn’t break up with you because of him,” she came back, trying to keep her voice down in front of most of the school.

“Then why?” he prodded her.

“You really want to know?” she demanded, not caring if the entire school was witness to her very public confrontation.

“I do.”

“I felt trapped. You kept doing everything you were supposed to do, but it didn’t feel like anything because Dad was in Austin and Mom was too busy being pregnant.”

“You could have told me all of that, Julie.”

“Didn’t feel like it. You were too wrapped up in being part of the State Champion Dillon Panthers to care what I was going through.”

“Did you ever think of why I did that?” he asked. “It was easier to focus on that than worry about why my dad left me again, or if Grams was going to wander off again without any notice.”

He watched as she shuddered for a moment before saying anything else.

“You didn’t exactly help me deal with the impending baby at my house,” she whispered.

He took a step closer to her. “I didn’t know I needed to,” he intoned.

She took another step towards him before she quickly wrapped her arms around him. The tears fell from her eyes before she registered what was happening.

He mumbled into her ear, trying to calm her down. “We have to go inside,” he quickly said.

She looked up briefly, trying to regain control over her breathing. “Sure,” she choked out.

They walked into the theatre together, hand in hand.

-*-

Matt didn’t pay any attention to the movie—instead, he was trying to figure out what had happened outside. He looked over at Julie from time to time, noting she was lost in the same state as he.

“Wanna get outta here?” he asked quietly.

“Sure.”

He offered his hand to her, before quickly leaving the theatre without interrupting everyone else.

By the time they’d walked outside, the crowd that had been loitering around the box office was gone—leaving them alone to hash out whatever they needed to talk about. Bravado fading, he worried that she’d revert back to the aloof girl in the car—the one that had ignored him most of the school year—not the one that confidently kissed him in the halls and dared him to come over for a night of watching _The Office_.

The air outside caught him off guard—the breeze floating her hair against the side of her face—making him want to go back inside, but unsure if it would help.

He dug his foot into the gravel around the outside, nervous energy desperate to escape, waiting for her to say anything.

Her silence scared him— it was the same way she rejected him during the summer.

“So what do you want to do?” he asked hesitantly.

“Don’t know,” she said, shrugging.

“Great,” he mumbled.

“What’d you say?”

“I said great. We just had this blowout in front of everyone, and now I still don’t know where we are.”

“Why don’t we just leave and go talk some more?”

“Because we don’t have a car, Jules.”

“So, then we’ll talk here.”

“About what?”

“Where we go from here?”

“Where do you want to go?”

“I want try again,” she said softly, moving towards him slowly.

“Doesn’t sound too bad.”

“That’s not a resounding endorsement,” she trailed off, stopping her momentum from taking her into his chest again.

“I need some time, but I guess I can try too,” he said before shuffling his hand over his hair.

“That’s all I’m asking for.”

“So what do we do now?” he asked.

“Wait for Landry and Tyra to get out of the movie. I don’t need Tyra explaining me to the finer points of how to not interrupt a date,” she said, small smile creeping onto her face.

“You wouldn’t get that conversation. I’d get one from Landry on how to not be a buzzkill.”

Matt watched as Julie laughed again. He quickly reached for her hand and walked back towards Landry’s SUV.

-*-

The ride back to the Taylors filled with uncomfortable silence. Landry and Tyra exchanged glances trying to understand what prompted Julie to be nestled into Matt’s torso, but said nothing.

When the car finally stopped in front of Julie’s house, Tyra coughed to get Julie’s attention.

“We’re here,” she said to her friend.

“Oh, thanks guys for a nice time out. I’m sure my parents appreciated it.”

“I’m sure they weren’t the only one,” Landry muttered, before Tyra’s hand slapped his arm.

“See ya tomorrow, Julue,” Tyra called.

“Right!”

The trio stayed in the driveway just long enough to watch the front door close behind Julie before Landry spoke.

“What was that for?” he asked.

“Being an ass,” Tyra retorted.

“Nothing happened, Tyra,” Matt replied, trying to quickly define his friend.

“Whatever you say, Matt,” she said flatly.

-*-

Morning coffee in his hand, Eric wondered from the bedroom into the kitchen, waiting for the girls to finish before they drove to work.

He watched as Julie walked into the kitchen with her messenger bag over her shoulder.

“How was last night?” he asked.

“Fine, Dad.”

“Just fine?” he pushed.

“I don’t know,” she said with a shrug. “Matt and I talked again.”

“Really?”

“Drop it, Dad. I don’t need you getting in the middle again.”

“Why would you think I’d do anything like that?” he asked.

“Because you don’t know how to leave me alone.”

“It is my job, Jules. All parents meddle.”

“Then keep it to a minimum during practice.”

“Sure, sweetie.”


End file.
